Defense unmerciful on Floyd County in state title game

SALEM — Luke Harris slowly climbs to his feet after being buried by an avalanche of Gretna players, grabs his facemask and hobbles back to the huddle.

It was a long, cold day for Floyd County’s star quarterback.

Harris, who sprained an ankle last week in the Buffaloes’ last-second state semifinal victory, was constantly on the run and pummeled unmercifully by Gretna’s attacking defense Saturday at Salem Stadium as the Hawks won 35-20 for their second consecutive Group A Division 2 state championship and fourth in six years.

“That’s Gretna football,” said senior linebacker Christian DeJarnette, who recorded two sacks. “We blitz all the time. Somebody’s going, no matter what.”

Harris, a senior who has made a high school career out of shredding opposing defenses, completed 24-of-39 pass attempts for 265 yards and three touchdowns against Gretna (13-1). While the first score allowed him to become the 11th player in Virginia High School League history to run and throw for at least 20 touchdowns in a season, the Hawks’ defense overwhelmed previously undefeated Floyd County (13-1) from the start.

“We had to keep (Harris) moving around,” Gretna coach Chris Thurman said. “I thought he was entirely too good to just (let him) sit back there and just throw darts…

“That’s been our modus since I’ve been here. We’re going to line up, press man and go after you and it works for us with our speed. We’re too small to sit back and just get pounded with the ball. We have to go after you.”

Gretna lined up in man coverage with eight men in the box. The Hawks kept the pressure on by routinely blitzing a linebacker while leaving two back to help defend against the run and the quarterback rolling out.

The scheme worked wonders, especially before intermission, as Gretna built a 21-0 lead and kept Floyd County from crossing midfield until the final play of the half.

Floyd County was limited to 19 yards of total offense in the first quarter and the Hawks sacked Harris, forcing and recovering his fumble early in the second. Gretna immediately followed that turnover with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Jayme Barksdale to Commillious Waller that provided the Hawks an insurmountable 21-0 lead.

Barksdale also contributed on the defensive side of the ball, recording a sack and a forced fumble. Delante Hubbard recovered a fumble and Darien Jefferson snatched an interception.

“Their line had some small tackles,” said Gretna junior linebacker Steven Payne, who led the Hawks with 11 tackles, including eight solo, a sack and a forced fumble. “We’d send an extra linebacker to take advantage of that and hit the gaps hard.”

Overall, Gretna racked up 65 total tackles, including eight tackles for loss, and four sacks.

With Harris playing at “about 70 percent,” Floyd County coach Winfred Beale said, the Buffaloes tried to counteract the Hawks’ blitzes and team speed by utilizing an array of screen passes and draw plays. The early deficit helped cripple the effectiveness of Floyd County’s offensive game plan.

“They’re by far the fastest football team, as well as the most athletic team that we’ve faced,” Beale said. “We had to just adjust and adapt as the game went on, and you can’t give them two or three scores. They were just manning up and sometimes they were sending more than we could block. We had a couple of younger offensive linemen in there and that made it tough.

“That’s their style and we knew we were going to face it.”